SECURITY: Hegseth To French Min: Increase Defence Spend & Take Responsibility

The Pentagon has released the following readout after a meeting between US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth and France's Minister of Armed Forces Sebastian Lecornu: "​...The Secretary urged France to increase defense spending and, alongside other NATO allies, take primary responsibility for Europe's conventional defense. Secretary Hegseth and Minister Lecornu discussed related priorities, as well, including ongoing efforts toward a durable peace in Ukraine."

• Hegseth's blunt message that Europe must spend more on defence has become commonplace as part of US-European interactions since President Donald Trump's return to the White House. Earlier this week, in an interview with UnHerd, Vice President JD Vance said “It’s not good for Europe to be the permanent security vassal of the United States.”, adding later, “the British are an obvious exception, the French are an obvious exception, the Poles are an obvious exception. But in some ways, they’re the exceptions that prove the rule, that European leaders have radically underinvested in security, and that has to change.”
• In a further sign of European efforts to appease the Trump admin, earlier today Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti confirmed that Italy would hit 2% of GDP spending on defence this year (see 'ITALY: Econ Min Commits To Spending 2% Of GDP On Defence 'This Year', 1241BST), and the topic will inevitably come up in talks between Trump and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni later today.